​Who does not love the Nutcracker Ballet?

This Russian Ballet masterpiece with famous melodic classical music by Tchaikovsky has always been a favorite of mine.
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You would have to be a cold, heartless robot to not enjoy the beauty, the scenery, the costumery, the graceful, elegant but strong ballet choreography of this production.
Seriously, when in Russia, one must attend such a colorful, historic attraction to feel the Russian culture.

​I was so happy to be able to see it live in person at the esteemed Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. In the summertime even! I didn’t have to wait until Christmastime back home in the states.
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I don’t even know how we lucked out and were able to get tickets last-minute to this production as they only perform at this theatre a dozen times in a year. 

​The Mariinsky Theatre was built around 1783 but the first Nutcracker Ballet didn’t appear until more than a hundred years later in 1892. The history is long and rich of all the esteemed ballet dancers who have graced this stage.

Photo-taking was not allowed and there were stern looking marms at each door keeping an eye on the crowd. Every time I whipped out my iPhone they stared like a hawk at me. I only managed to take some selfies of my daughter and her classmate sitting in front of us. And goofed around taking some selfies of me and my husband. I did snap a few of the audience and the chandeliers hanging overhead but they came out too dark. 

​We sat in a 4-seat box section. It felt old, and wooden and smelled of perfume from another era. Great setting to transport one’s imagination into the whole performance. At the end, the audience clapped, then clapped louder, and shouted encore! And the troupe came out again for another bow. The shouts of Bravo! were deafening and it was a dramatic experience to behold.

I should add as an afterthought, that we did enjoy a great dinner before we went to the theatre. It was at the Sadko Restaurant right across the street. We had a traditional shashlik (Russian meat on skewers) that was delicious! 

​I discovered there is more than one church in St. Petersburg named Peter & Paul. The first one I visited is the Peter & Paul Cathedral next to the Peterhof Palace about an hour drive outside of the city limits of St. Petersburg. Although beautiful, it is more reminiscent of a country church than a grand cathedral. The second one I visited is the  Peter & Paul Fortress, a multiple building complex, which contains the oldest church in St. Petersburg titled the Cathedral of the Saints Peter and Paul. This is where all the Russian Rulers are buried, including the Romanov family. 

​In 2015, I visited this fortress while on a 3-week trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. As with most, if not all the cathedrals and castles and palaces I visited, I came away impressed. This time not so much with shiny gold spires but because of the reverence of the place.
​Many people were lining up to enter the Grand Ducal Mausoleum to view all the tombs of Russian Royalty buried here. Peter the Great was buried here in 1715. His family members are also buried here. In 1998 the entire Romanov family remains were brought together to be entombed from the various places they had been buried before. There is also much to read along the hallway walls of each member of the Romanov family. Everything you see speaks of heavy history, of torment and tears, and sacred honor, so deep is the Russian history in this place. 

​There is a jail on the grounds. It is called the Trubetskoy Bastion Prison.

Many notable Russian dissidents were confined here such as Maxim Gorky and Leon Trotsky. I just wanted to get through the tour and move on to somewhere outside since it was a sunny summer day. To think many of the prison cells had no windows, no natural light coming through. It’s a wonder how these prisoners survived through sheer will power alone. They weren’t treated very well but at least this history is preserved and available for public viewing.

Upon walking outside, I wanted to move away and find somewhere with a natural feel to it, so I spied the Neva River and walked towards it. I came upon a small strip of a rocky, sandy beach that I had to hop down to get closer. Once on this “beach” and looking back to the high walls surrounding the fortress made them seem even higher and secluded. But the sun was shining, and I found a few people who were enjoying it. People come here year-round I found out, even in winter with heavy snow on the beach, because that’s what Russians do. It’s a little stretch of privacy right up against the very close and heavily flowing Neva river with the backdrop of the fortress.  

Upon leaving the fortress, I happily discovered The Hop-On Hop-Off bus pick up station was just across the street from the entrance. This is another good reason why purchasing the Petersburg Card was handy. You can change your independent touring plans as you see fit. Luckily the wait for the next bus wasn’t long so we sat down at a snack bar and waited. I saw many more people enjoying the summer sun on the lawn that surrounds the front and sides of the fortress. There is a little river that runs around the fortress, perhaps it was used as a moat, but it didn’t seem deep. I saw fathers and their sons playing with motorized toy boats on it. There were some larger people-size boats too. I imagine in Winter it freezes over. But this was summer, and it was time to soak up some light in a dark history filled in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

​At first glance upon arrival, you see the typical onion dome spires that traditionally adorn Russian churches. These were gold and shiny giving you a taste of what is to come. As you start the walk into the grounds of the majestic Peterhof Palace in Petrodverts, you can see the grandeur of how Peter the Great wanted to live in the 17th century. His dream was to recreate a Versailles Palace in his homeland. It was given the name Peterhof which in German means Peter’s Court. Even after Peter the Great died, his Palace was inhabited by other Royals, most notably the Romanov Family.

​The grandest part of this complex is its grounds covering hundreds of acres and are a sight to behold. I was there on a warm, blue sky, summer day in July 2015. I was captivated by the shiny golden statues and fountains, known as the Cascade, where people line up just to take photos beside these objets d’art. Naked gilded males, 10-feet tall or so, with nothing to cover their privates. No blushing allowed. There are even costumed characters that you can take a photo with for a nominal fee. They won’t let you take photos of them however and are quick to turn around if they spy you starting to photograph them. Nevertheless, I took these awkward photos of some of the 17th century costumed characters.
Take a look at this gallery to see these many statues and fountains:

​The Palace itself was closed on the day I was there but we did manage to go inside the Imperial Chapel where the royal children were baptized. This chapel is gilded in gold but still had a quaint, country feel to it mostly due to its petite size. It’s not exactly a big church but more like a small place of worship for a large royal family which is what it was intended for. You must put on paper shoe covers to keep the floor as clean as possible. 

​There is a long, but very worthwhile, walk down through the lower gardens to the edges of the complex which lead to the Gulf of Finland. A nice, cool blowing breeze kept the temperature just right even though it was a beautiful, bright warm day in summer. Hundreds of different types of trees and plants fill this area, neatly taken care of, where you can wander lost in your own thoughts admiring what it must’ve been like when the Royals lived here. Serene and peaceful is the feeling I got.

​Once you reach the water’s edge you can see people standing on the rocks fishing for sturgeon. I didn’t know it was sturgeon until I saw the sign. Later when we ate dinner at the relaxing Restaurant Shtandart, I saw a couple order a very large platter of a whole sturgeon fish. They devoured it together and left only the fish head carcass. I elected to have lamb stew and we also shared communal plates of salad. We ate outside on the terrace and enjoyed the lovely ambiance amidst all the greenery and sea breeze.

In another article I wrote about getting around the city of SPB by bus, walking, or Uber/Taxi. When in Peterhof you have the option to return to St. Petersburg by bus or hydrofoil. You can purchase a St. Petersburg Card to save money and use it for most public transportation including the hydrofoil boat. Since I arrived to Peterhof by bus which took a little over an hour, I decided to try the hydrofoil boat across the Gulf of Finland to get back to St. Petersburg. It was quite choppy but fun and only took 20 minutes. ​

Add this day trip to your agenda the next time you are in St. Petersburg, Russia. You won’t be disappointed. Do allow the whole day, instead of a half, so you can go at your own pace. ​And if after touring the grounds of the Peterhof Palace you still have some time and energy, take a walk across the street to see the Peter and Paul Cathedral. (Not to be confused with the Peter and Paul Fortress where the Romanov Family is interred.) I didn't get a chance to go inside this church but did snap a quick photo of it as its colors are in earth tones and contrasted sharply against the shiny gilded Peterhof Palace.